Abalta Special School

02/11/2026

Thinking of our gorgeous Joshua, today and everyday 🕊️❤️‍🩹

23/10/2026

We had an adorably spooky start to our midterm today in Abalta! 👻🎃

Everyone dressed to impress with their amazing costumes and enjoyed some fun Halloween themed activities, dance parties and of course, plenty of treats. 😋🍬🍫🍭

Thank you SO MUCH to our amazing neighbours in Abbott who once again dropped in amazing goody bags for all of our kiddos to enjoy! We are so well looked after here! 🥰

It is hard to believe we are already at midterm, what a busy first few months of the year! But as always, our kiddos are absolutely shining! 🌟

Wishing everyone a lovely midterm! ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💜🩷

22/10/2026

It has taken us a couple of weeks to process and be able to properly talk about the outpouring of kindness and generosity shown to us by the amazing Phoenix Tower International 🥰😍🙏🏻

Once again we have been blown away by their immense support and the love and kindness they show us every year! 🙌🏻🥹

Earlier this month, nearly 40 volunteers 😱 arrived here to donate an unbelievable amount of money to our school, and to complete all kinds of tasks and jobs that are so beneficial to our students but are the things there is not time in the busy day to complete! 💪🏻🏋🏻‍♀️

No job was too big or too small! Be it making shelves, making climbing frames, painting offices, building all the flat packs you could think of or filling skips, the amazing people from PTI did them with a smile on their faces! 🛠️☺️

We also completed our ' Elephant in the Room' art project, which was donated to us through PTI too! Our kiddos were paired up with a volunteer and everyone did matching handprints! 🐘❤️

Thanks you to our amazing parents and staff who helped out on the day, sent in an AMAZING spread of food and treats for our amazing guests! 🥪🥨🍱🌮🥯

We really are so so lucky to have PTI looking out for us over the last few years! We cannot put into words how grateful we are! 🥰

Go raibh míle maith agaibh. Thank you so much ❤️🧡💛💚💙🩷

19/10/2026

So proud of these superstars! 🥰🥰 Our amazing Butterflies Lochlan and Mairead completed their cycle of the Camino!!! 😱🥳

We could not be more proud and thankful for you for achieving this PHENOMENAL achievement for our school! 🚲

Hopefully you are both sitting somewhere with your feet up and a well earned treat in hand! ☀️

24/09/2026

There are not enough words to describe how lucky we are to work with the most amazing team of SNA's here in Abalta! ❤️🧡💛💚💚🩵💜🩷

Everyday they show up for our students and families with kindness, patience, empathy and care, and we would not be who we are without them! 🙌

Thak you for the vital and invaluable work you do! 🥰 We appreciate you today, and everyday 😘

31/07/2026

A superstar past Abalta mom running for an awesome cause ❤️🧡💛💚🩵🩷

Meet Colette Flaherty, proud mum to Paul, who attends The Hub in Portumna and receives respite support through Ash Services. Paul has been part of the Ability West family since 2023.

This October, Colette will take on the incredible challenge of the Irish Life Dublin City Marathon, running a full 42.195km to raise funds for Ability West's Portumna Services.

A seasoned marathon runner, Colette admits there was a time when she never believed she could complete a marathon. With encouragement from her running friends, determination, and plenty of hard work, she achieved that goal and has never looked back.

When she's not training on the roads around Portumna, Colette is busy with family life alongside her husband and their six children. On marathon day, they'll be there at the finish line cheering her on every step of the way.

We're incredibly grateful that Colette has chosen to support Ability West through this challenge.

Funds raised will directly benefit our Portumna services, including St. Dympna's, The Hub, and Ash Services, helping to provide equipment and resources that enhance the lives of the people we support. These include sensory equipment, communication technology, and specialised resources that promote independence, wellbeing, and inclusion.

As Portumna prepares to welcome a new residential home for four residents, support from fundraisers like Colette has never been more important.

Please support Colette's marathon journey and help us continue creating opportunities for the people we support to live their very best lives.

Good luck, Colette. We're all behind you!

You can make a donation on the idonate link below:

https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/coletteflahertyfundraiser

28/07/2026

And that's a wrap! ✅

July Summer camp 2026 over and out, and we went out in style with a big party in the gym! 🎉

The students all celebrated together a super successful July with each other, and lovely to see some of our wonderful Abalta families join us too! 🫂💕

Thank you to the amazing staff over our full 4 weeks of July camp! We literally could not do it without your hard work and dedication to our kiddos! 🌟

Wishing our wonderful Abalta families a happy and healthy summer, and to our school leavers we wish you all the luck, love and laughter on your new adventures! 🥰 And you know where to find us, don't be strangers! 😘

Happy summer everybody ❤️🧡💛💚🩵🩷

27/07/2026

The weather may have taken a turn, but it certainly didn't dampen our spirits at camp!

Rain or shine, you can't beat an ice cream from Mr Whippy Ice Cream ! 🥰 Always so good to us, patient while we decide our order, and will happily take back a cone deemed too small and add an extra scoop! ❤️🍦

Our wonderful Noel was busy bussing us around today, with the butterflies 🦋 heading off for a coffee and a snack at the delicious huntsman, and the ladybirds 🐞 throwing on their raincoat and heading for the playground! They also has a lovely party to celebrate our wonderful Elin and her new adventures 🥰

Hard to believe it is the last day of our camp tomorrow, but I'm sure we will finish in style ❤️☀️

24/07/2026

Happy Friday! 🙏🏻🥰

It was a magically musical day in Abalta today, with a visit from the always wonderful Emma Lohan Music Education 🎶🎸

She delivered a colorful and engaging music session that we all really enjoyed! 😊😊 We got to explore some more awesome instruments, and enjoy some fun parachute play songs! 🥰

It was our final swim session of the year, for the caterpillars 🐛. All of our classes love our swim sessions, and the caterpillars are no exception! Diving and splashing their way into the weekend! 🥰

23/07/2026

Today we were treated to a magical sensory adventure from the AMAZING artist Sam Warmington! 😊 He visited each of our classes, with the help of wonderful Molly, with a sensory exploration of a magical forest, and what a treat it was! 🍄🌳🍃

Everything was adapted to suit the needs and likes and dislikes of our students, and all of the props and musical instruments were so engaging! 👐🏻🎶 We explored different weathers, different sights and different sounds! 🥰

It was the Hedgehogs 🦔 turn to take a dip at Kilcornan Leisure Complex, where they relaxed and showed off their amazing swimming skills that they have been practicing all year! 🏊🏻‍♀️🙂